Reality check

Let's have a look how Piers Corbyn and The Express have done with their previous headlines of doom.
October 17 2007: GET READY FOR 3 KILLER STORMS: BRITAIN is set to be battered by three massive storms during a spell of "ferocious" weather, a forecaster warned last night.

If he is right the weather conditions could equal or surpass the violence of the Great Storm of 1987 which took place exactly 20 years ago yesterday.

The nightmare prediction comes from long-range forecaster Piers Corbyn who correctly warned of the summer floods and last year's New Year hurricane.

Mr Corbyn says that hurricane force winds - gusting up to 130mph as weather fronts gain in intensity - could wreak havoc across the country, causing structural damage to properties and endangering lives.

The relentless cycle of ferocious weather, he says, will begin gathering force at the end of next week for what forecasters are calling a "warm-up period". It will be followed by another, more intense storm during the second week of November with stronger wind speeds.

But the most severe weather event will take place during the last week of November, causing chaos. Forecasters are already predicting that it could be as severe as the famous tempest of 1703 - one of the most extreme weather events ever witnessed in Britain which wiped out 80 per cent of the Royal Navy's fleet.

Reality: The autumn was notable for its lack of storms. None of the three "stormy" periods saw any notably strong winds except the occasional gale in the Hebrides, hardly unusual in autumn! The last week of November, "the most severe weather event" was calm and anticyclonic with hardly a breath of wind over much of the UK.

December 14 2007: THE CHRISTMAS KILLER GALE: SEVERE storms could put lives at risk and ruin Christmas and New Year for millions of Britons.

Winds reaching 95mph, heavy rain, tornadoes and blizzards are set to batter the nation from December 23 onwards, an independent forecaster has warned.

He says a deep low-pressure system will sweep across western and southern Britain - strong enough to disrupt transport, bring down power lines, uproot trees and create a storm surge along the Bristol Channel and south coast.

It means families aiming to be together for the festive season may have their travel plans ruined, and the traditional Christmas dinner could be scrapped if homes are left without power.

Reality: Christmas Day was wet and breezy but hardly very windy for December. No transport disruption or power failures due to weather, no winds anywhere like 95mph, and the south coast was about the least windy spot.

And last winter...

November 11 2006: ARCTIC BLASTS ON THE WAY

Reality: 2006/07 was record-breakingly mild in the UK.

I could go on but frankly I'd lose the will to live...

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